Inserting foods with iron for babies is extremely important, because when the baby stops exclusively breastfeeding and starts feeding at 6 months of age, his natural iron reserves have already run out, so when introducing a diversified diet, the baby needs to eat:
- Cooked red lentils: 2.44 mg of Fe per 100g of food;
- Salsa: 3,1 mg of Fe per 100g of food;
- Boiled egg yolk: 4,85 mg of Fe per 100g of food;
- Sweet potato: 1.38 mg of Fe per 100g of food;
- Leek 0.7 mg of Fe per 100g of food;
- Lean veal:2.4 mg of Fe per 100g of food
- Chicken: 2 mg of Fe per 100g of food;
- Lean lamb: 2,2 mg of Fe per 100g of food
- Red bean broth:7,1 mg of Fe per 100g of food;
- Papaya: 0,8 mg of Fe per 100g of food;
- Yellow Peach: 2,13 mg of Fe per 100g of food;
- Cress: 2,6 mg of Fe per 100g of food.
Baby’s Iron Requirement (RDA)
The baby’s body’s need for iron increases drastically at the age of 6 months,
- Babies aged 0 – 6 months: 0.27 mg
- Babies aged 7 to 12 months: 11 mg
It is possible only with a diet rich in iron to reach and meet the baby’s daily iron needs, but it is common to introduce iron supplementation in drops to prevent iron deficiencies.
The baby’s body’s need for iron increases a lot when it turns 6 months old, as from 0 to 6 months of age, breast milk is enough to meet its need for approximately 0,27 mg of iron per day as it has a natural reserve of iron for this stage of life, but when it completes six months of life until the first year, its intense development requires a much greater amount of iron per day. 11 mg per day of iron. Therefore, at 6 months, or when you start to diversify your diet; It is common for the pediatrician to prescribe iron supplementation.
How to Increase Baby’s Iron Absorption
Adding a tablespoon of orange juice to vegetable cream or baby soup will allow greater absorption of the iron present in vegetables, which, although there is a large amount, is only possible to be absorbed in the presence of ascorbic acid. The iron present in foods of animal origin (yolk, meat) does not need anything to be absorbed, but it is not advisable to offer more than 20g of meat to the baby per day and therefore it is not possible to offer a large amount of animal iron. .
